Concrete Cat

August 21, 2009

The biggest complaint about concrete counter tops and concrete furniture is that they require maintenance. What I want to explain is that this is not a horrible thing, needing maintenance means that the surface is also repairable. With most artificial counter surfaces that are “no maintenance” once your counters are damaged they are toast, we are talking about things like arborite, corian, formica etc. this list goes on and is extensive. This is not the case with concrete. I have never seen damage to concrete that cannot be repaired.

For an example I will use our most delicate finish and the most common source of staining with this finish. Concrete Cat offers a finish that is complete organic, non-toxic and very eco-friendly, and it is something that has been used for hundreds if not thousands of years for finishing wood and leather; it’s beeswax! We are using pure beeswax with no thinners or solvents to make it liquid and through our specially designed process we have come up with a way to make the wax penetrate and seal the concrete leaving a gorgeous and striking patina. All of these features come at a price and these counters do need a bit of extra maintenance. Probably the biggest issue with this finish is that acids can damage it in high traffic areas making the finish look dull. Check out the photo below for an example of what this damage looks like.

With only a few easy steps we prepped this stained area and completely revived the concrete in approximately 3–4 minutes. Take a look for yourself, I think it looks great!

This revitalizing process works on different kinds of staining and each concrete finish we offer also has ways to repair damage in the few cases when it occurs. I will add that this is not some sort of “up-sell” maintenance package we are try to sell you. With every counter and furniture piece we sell, we leave the client with the necessary tools and know-how to maintain their beautiful concrete piece on their own, ensuring the co-existence of concrete and home owner together is a happy one!